Bifana

Ingredients

Pork

• 600 gpork loin, sliced 4 mm thin
• 8 clovesgarlic, crushed to a paste
• 250 mldry white wine
• 2bay leaves
• 1 tbspsweet paprika
• 1 tbspmassa de pimentão (red pepper paste), optional
• 1 tspsalt
• 1 tspblack pepper
• 2 tbsplard or olive oil

To serve

• 4papo-secos or soft crusty rolls
• mustard and piri-piri sauce

Directions

1. Slice the pork loin as thinly as you can — 4 mm or less. Freezing it for 20 minutes first makes this much easier, and thin slices are what let the sandwich be tender in a few minutes of cooking.
2. Marinate the slices overnight in the wine, garlic, bay, paprika, pepper paste and pepper. Hold the salt back until cooking, since salt in a wine marinade overnight draws out too much moisture.
3. Lift the pork out and reserve every drop of the marinade.
4. Heat the lard in a wide pan until hot. Cook the slices in a single layer, in batches, 60–90 seconds a side. They are thin and they overcook in moments.
5. Once all the pork is browned, return it to the pan, pour in the reserved marinade and the salt, and let it bubble hard for 4–5 minutes until reduced to a thin, glossy, garlicky sauce that coats the meat.
6. Split the rolls and dip the cut faces briefly into the pan sauce so the bread soaks it up. This is the step that makes a bifana rather than a pork sandwich.
7. Pile two or three slices into each roll with a spoonful more sauce.
8. Serve immediately with mustard and piri-piri on the table, and a cold beer. In Vendas Novas they are sold by the dozen.

Technique

• Thin slices and a hot pan. Thick pork loin goes tough and dry and the sandwich is ruined.
• The marinade becomes the sauce. Discarding it throws away the whole point.
• Papo-seco, a light crusty roll, is the right bread — anything dense fights the thin meat.

Substitutions

• Pork shoulder, sliced thin, is more forgiving and a little richer.
• A splash of vinegar if you have no white wine, with water to make up the volume.

Variations

• The Lisbon style, with more mustard and a thinner sauce.
• Prego, the same idea made with thin beef steak.

History

A pork steak sandwich from Vendas Novas in the Alentejo, where roadside stalls served travellers on the road between Lisbon and Évora.

Frequently asked questions

What is Bifana?

Bifana is a street food from Portugal: thin garlic-marinated pork cutlets in a soft roll. A pork steak sandwich from Vendas Novas in the Alentejo, where roadside stalls served travellers on the road between Lisbon and Évora.

How long does Bifana take to make?

Bifana takes 15 min plus overnight marinating of preparation and 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 sandwiches. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Bifana?

Yes, within limits. Pork shoulder, sliced thin, is more forgiving and a little richer. A splash of vinegar if you have no white wine, with water to make up the volume.

What is the most important thing to get right in Bifana?

Split the rolls and dip the cut faces briefly into the pan sauce so the bread soaks it up. This is the step that makes a bifana rather than a pork sandwich.